December 2021 Holiday Season – Asteya (Non-Stealing): Day 3

Good Morning Yogis! We are in the middle of our special Holiday Yamas Practices! December is the holiday season for many worldwide nations, cultures, and religions, so this ties in with most other holiday seasons our Yogis may celebrate. I will continue my research through the month and tie in our practices with world holidays if they tie in with our daily practices… please contact me if you have any requests or suggestions!

cool shot of people standing inside big ben clock - asteya non-stealing giving balance time Quote: Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back. - Harvey MacKay original work - https://unsplash.com/photos/IXpuRZvhCT0 — Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back. – Harvey MacKay

Holiday Yamas Practice Schedule

We are on our twelfth day counting down the 5 Yamas with 5 days of Ahimsa (non-harming), 4 days of Satya (truthfulness), and 3 days of Asteya (non-stealing) before we have a full week (starting tomorrow!) of Brahmacharya for the week of Christmas in the United States.. a time that I will enjoy the focus on moderation! We will focus on a different way to practice each of these Yamas each day.

Holiday Season – 12/19

Today is the third and final day of our Asteya (non-stealing) practices. Today we will practice the positive of non-stealing in a specific way – with time.

This is always a challenge for me, so I am excited to start integrating this Asteya practice! It seems like I try to be 10 minutes early for everything, but always end up 5 minutes late. This is something I always want to improve on.. I dislike having to sit for a long time in a waiting room, and always feel guilty doing this to people waiting for me! I did a bit of research, and learned this is a problem for optimists, who generally hope for things to go well and do not plan a buffer for things that inevitably go wrong. This commute optimism is my main problem, both in the city when traffic can build up quickly and in the mountains where you can easily get stuck behind a slow truck on a single-lane road. Additionally, if I am running late and see a beautiful cloud formation, or sunset, or another picture-perfect scene, I do not have the flexibility to stop and enjoy or photograph the moment!

Today’s Daily Yogi Practice is to examine Asteya / Non-Stealing in our relationship with and management of time. If you are like me and struggle with this 5-minute late issue, please check out this great detailed list of causes and solutions for tardiness.